Wednesday, 20 August 2014

La Tasca - Newcastle Quayside

La Tasca* is the type of place we used to frequent quite a lot in our child free days. It is the sort of place that really puts you in a good mood - tapas and sangria are a winning combination in my eyes. We have spent many a evening here enjoying the lovely selection of food and drink they have to offer. If you add the prime location on the banks of the river tyne and a selection of fantastic party menus then you have yourself a fantastic place to meet with friends.

I guess it is this 'Spanish party' image that has deterred me from taking the children before - or maybe the fact that I wouldn't be able to order a jug of sangria to myself? As a family we love tapas, it is something we often prepare ourselves at home and we have enjoyed tapas on numerous occasions whilst on family holidays in Spain. So we decided to give La Tasca another visit and see what they had to offer families. We booked a table at 5pm on a Thursday evening.

Immediately as you step into La Tasca you begin to relax and even if it is only for an hour or so, the atmosphere, music and authentic food trick you into believing you could actually be sitting on holiday in your new favourite Spanish cantina.

Drinks
There is a lovely selection of drinks on offer at La Tasca. We could not resist sangria which was served in an on-trend jam jar. It tasted lovely and refreshing and one glass was large enough to last the whole meal.

La Tasca for Children

Dining tapas-style is a lovely social experience and a great way for your children to try new tastes and flavours. We let the children taste all of our dishes and they shared their own with each other too. The children's menu is good value at £5.95 and includes three mini tapas, a dessert and a capri sun drink. Spanish dishes such as paella, meatballs and spanish omelette sit next to items you may normally expect to see on a children's menu such as french fries and fish fingers.

Children are very well looked after - we were asked if we wanted their food to be brought out as soon as it was ready (yes please) or if we would like to have it served with our tapas which may take slightly longer. Their menu's folded out into a large activity sheet full of wordsearches, drawing activities and puzzles and everybody was delighted to have a balloon tied to their chair. Our waitress was simply wonderful and really made our children feel special - taking the time to talk to them all and have a little joke. We were made to feel very welcome.

It is recommended you order 3 tapas dishes each and that is exactly what we did - we ordered a selection from the main menu, most dishes were priced around the £4 mark. Stand out dishes for us were the patatas bravas and chorizo which both tasted very authentic. Everything was perfectly cooked (including the prawns and calamari which are so easy to over cook) and served together.

Dessert

The children chose a dessert from their menu (included in the price) and I have to say, although we really weren't hungry after our tapas feast we were easily tempted with dessert ourselves. We ordered a sharing dessert platter for £6.95 and I am so pleased we did. The churros were absolutely amazing and ended our meal perfectly.

We left La Tasca genuinely impressed. The atmosphere was lovely and relaxed, our waitress really made an effort to make us feel welcome. The food was delicious and service was prompt. It was great to try such a wide selection of food and to watch our children do the same. Everybody gave La Tasca a thumbs up and we will definitely be back soon.

La Tasca Newcastle Quayside is situated next to the Malmaison hotel near the Millenium bridge. You can reserve a table online via their website:- www.latasca.com. Kids eat free throughout the summer holidays until 2nd September. Terms and conditions apply - check website for details.